God and Caesar (Mark 12:13-17)

The Story

We are right in the middle of a set of traps that the various ruling groups and sects in Jerusalem are trying to set in order stop him.

His last interrogators were here to ask theological questions, these next interrogators are here to trap him politically.

In the following passage He will be approached by the doubting Sadducees.

So Jesus is getting fired at from 3 different sides.

But it doesn’t phase him.

They all are approaching him with false words.

There were no earnest people in these groups.

And so Jesus swats them down and away.

This time they are trying to trap him politically.

I find this immediately relevant for us today.

You know we are headed into another election year.

And Christians often wrestle with the question of how does their faith intersect with politics.

Well I want to start by reminding you of how the Gospel of Mark starts.

Mark 1:1 HCSB

1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

This is a very politically charged statement.

So it is not a question of IF the gospel is political, it is how.

But I want to remind us all, that is not the goal of the people asking the question, to find out how the gospel informs our political lives.

It’s a trap.

It seems like the perfect trap.

These two groups were against each other. But together against Jesus.

Herodians: The Herodians do not seem to have been a coherent sect in the sense that Pharisees or Sadducees were, but probably were a political pressure group, cutting across other divisions, made up of those who saw in the support of the unscrupulous but outwardly orthodox Herod the hope of Israel; and that meant acceptance of Rome as overlord11 R. Alan Cole, Mark: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 2, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1989), 267.

If Jesus sides with Caesar, the Pharisees will whip the people up against Jesus.

If he sides against Caesar, the Herodians will use their Roman contacts to have him arrested.

Here’s the thing, even though this was a lying question, it was a good question to bring to Jesus because Jesus is actually equipped to answer it.

A lot of people are out of their depth when trying to sort out questions of church and state, but not Jesus.

He is head of them both.

“Nothing is more likely to ensnare ministers, than bringing them to meddle with controversies about civil rights, and to settle land-marks between the prince and the subject, which it is fit should be done, while it is not at all fit that they should have the doing of it. They seemed to refer the determining of this matter to Christ; and he indeed was fit to determine it, for by him kings reign, and princes decree justice”11 Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1994), 1805.

Why are you testing me? Bring me a denarius to look at.

Jesus didn’t even have one on him, so they have to produce one.

This was their money.

No one actually liked Rome.

They just had varying ideas on if you should submit to Rome, or use political affiliations as a tool.

So when Jesus asks them who’s image and inscription is on it,

there answer is short and cold,

“Caesar’s”

What was on the coin?

Front: Tiberius Caesar, Son of the Divine Augustus, Augustus.”

Back: PONTIF MAXIM” is a shortened version of “Pontifex Maximus

Caesar cult.

Mark 12:17 HCSB

17 Then Jesus told them, “Give back to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they were amazed at Him.

He did it!

He escaped the trap!

But not only did He escape the trap but He managed to give us some really good political theology at the same time.

“To this they could not think of anything to answer. For they had been sent to slander him. And they went back saying: No one could answer him. Why? Because he had shattered their teeth in their mouth.” - Augustine on Psalm 58

They had lost their teeth for the moment.

Immediate Application

Listening from the couch.

The people of God with a broken relationship with the state.

Covenant Bonds. We have one with the state.

This covenant bond was poisoned and corrupted by sin, which inhibits them from obeying God.

What is the state?

Government is not a bad thing.

What roles does God give government in this age?

Upholding justice.

Terrorizing evildoers.

Westminster Chapter 23:

1. God, the Supreme Lord and King of all the world, hath ordained civil magistrates to be under him, over the people, for his own glory and the public good, and to this end hath armed them with the power of the sword, for the defense and encouragement of them that are good, and for the punishment of evil-doers.a

What would it look like for Israel to have given to God what is Gods?

We know. It’s called the early church.

Acts 5:29 We must obey God rather than man.

Polycarp. Before the magistrate.

What harm is there in saying, Lord Cæsar, and in sacrificing, with the other ceremonies observed on such occasions, and so make sure of safety? But he at first gave them no answer; and when they continued to urge him, he said, I shall not do as you advise me

Magistrate: Swear by the fortune of Cæsar; repent, and say, Away with the Atheists. But Polycarp, gazing with a stern countenance on all the multitude of the wicked heathen then in the stadium, and waving his hand towards them, while with groans he looked up to heaven, said, Away with the Atheists. Then, the proconsul urging him, and saying, Swear, and I will set you at liberty, reproach Christ;

“Eighty and six years have I served Christ and He has never abandoned me, how then can I abandon my King and my Savior?”

The early church had a repaired relationship with the state, and it did not make them chummy.

They weren’t bootlickers and they weren’t rebels.

In fact, it made them equal parts blessing and pest.

They wouldn’t pray to Caesar, but they would pray for Him.

They wouldn’t participate in the cultural worship and feasts, but they had their own worship and feasts every week that sought to feed and serve the poor.

“Atheism [I.e. the Christian faith!] has been specially advanced through the loving service rendered to strangers, and through their care for the burial of the dead. It is a scandal that there is not a single Jew who is a beggar, and that the godless Galileans care not only for their own poor but for ours as well; while those who belong to us look in vain for the help that we should render them.” Emperor Julian 4th century

A strong case can be made that Christianity toppled the Roman Empire not by force, but by love.

The whole Roman machine worked through the abuse of power.

The Christian church didn’t avoid power, but used it for the sake of the weak.

This was a wrench in the Roman system.

Today’s Application

What would it look like for us to give to God what is Gods today?

Because we are up against the same problem.

The people of God with a broken relationship with the state.

This covenant bond was poisoned and corrupted by sin, which inhibits them from obeying God.

The state

Romans 13:1–2 LEB

1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except by God, and those that exist are put in place by God. 2 So then, the one who resists authority resists the ordinance which is from God, and those who resist will receive condemnation on themselves.

1 Peter 2:13–14 LEB

13 Subject yourselves to every human authority for the sake of the Lord, whether to a king as having supreme authority, 14 or to governors as those sent out by him for the punishment of those who do evil and the praise of those who do good.

That Roman’s 13 passage has been used by Totalitarian governments (recently Nazi Germany and Apartheid South Africa) as a means to bully Christians into blind obedience to the state.

Doctrine of the Lesser Magistrate:

The doctrine of the lesser magistrates declares that when the superior or higher civil authority makes an unjust/immoral law or decree, the lesser or lower ranking civil authority has both the right and duty to refuse obedience to that superior authority.

Example in church - Magdburg

example in family - Wicked father

This is weighty stuff.

You have a responsibility to obey God MORE than man,

so how do you gain the discernment necessary to do that well?

By a strong covenant bond with God.

Which requires understanding God and ourselves.

Deep reflection on what it means to be made in the image of God and under the command of His word will help us know how to conduct ourselves in our families, our churches, and our nation.

“If the image of God is the distinguishing earmark of man, we owe it to ourselves to get a clear idea of the content of it.” - Bavinck

What makes someone the image of God?

So many things.

But one of the primary things is that you have a different kind of spirit than all of the animals.

But it’s not just your spirit,

“Even the body is not excluded from the image of God. True, scripture expressly says that God is Spirit (John 4:24), and it nowhere ascribes a body to him. Nevertheless, God is the creator also of the body and of the whole sensuous world. All things, material things too, have their origin and their existence in the word that was with God (John 1:3, Colossians 1:15), and therefore rest in thought, in spirit. Moreover, the body, although it is not the cause of all those activities of the spirit, is the instrument of them. It is not the ear which hears, but the spirit of man which hears through the ear.

Hence all those activities which we accomplish by means of the body, and even the physical organs by which we accomplish them, can be ascribed to God. Scripture speaks of His hands and feet, of His eyes and ears, and of so much more, in order to indicate that all that man can achieve by way of the body is, in an original and perfect way, due to God. He that planted the ear shall he not hear? He that formed the eye, shall He not see? (Psalm 94:9). To the extent, therefore, that the body serves as tool and instrument of the spirit, it exhibits a certain resemblance to, and gives us some notion of, the way in which God is busy in the world.” - Bavinck

Augustine: “The image of the Emperor appears differently in his son and in a piece of coin. The coin has no knowledge of its bearing the image of the prince. But you are the coin of God, and so far highly superior, as possessing mind and even life, so as to know the One whose image you bear.11 Thomas C. Oden and Christopher A. Hall, eds., Mark (Revised), Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1998), 159.

Caesar is owed a little.

God is owed it all.

Submit to authority until it would stop you submitting to God.

State: Don’t fall prey to the idea that you have to fit into our political landscape. Reject the political cults of our day.

Church: This is a good barometer for knowing when to leave a church. If the authorities in that church don’t fear God.

Family: Just because someone is your family member doesn’t mean you should try to please them by displeasing God.

If you have a family member that doesn’t want you to go to church, go anyway.

If you have a family member who is living in sin and calls you horrible names for holding biblical views on sexuality,

don’t stop holding fast to the truth of God’s word.

Even if it’s your parents.

Even if it’s your twin,

or your grandma.

It would be better to offend your grandma and be saved than to offend your God and go to hell.

Warning! There is a difference between ceasing to submit to an authority and disrespecting that authority.

It is biblically possible to pray for the health of your enemies and their judgement simultaneously.

Because in so doing you are placing them firmly in Christ’s just hands, who is seated at the right hand of the Father and from there will come to judge the living and the dead.

Listen to the wisdom of the early church for how they would talk to their rulers:

Justin Martyr - So we worship God only, but in temporal matters we gladly serve you, recognizing you as emperors and rulers, and praying that along with your imperial power you may also be found to have a sound mind. Suppose you pay no attention to our prayers and our frank statements about everything. That will not injure us, since we believe, and are convinced without doubt, that everyone will finally experience the restraint of divine judgment in relation to their voluntary actions. Each will be required to give account for the responsibilities which he has been given by God.

Would you talk like that on the AZ Senate floor?

How about a school board meeting?

We are entering an election year.

The way you vote will matter.

But beyond that the way you speak will matter.

The way you conduct yourself as a representative of the high king of the World.

We are His messengers.

We ought to be announcing the good news of the kingdom of God as a stark contrast to the oftentimes abysmal news of the kingdom of America.

Coffeeshop conversation

And beyond that the way you act will matter.

We become increasingly reliant and fixated on what the government can do for us and others.

Don’t wait for Caesar to do good and obey God.

You do it.

Be careful not to respect the wrong man.

“Many that seem careful to give to men their due, are in no care to give God the glory due to his name; whereas our hearts and best affections are as much due to him as ever rent was to a landlord, or tribute to a prince.”11 Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1994), 1805.